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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

A new year

I'm so excited for this year. Jonathan's new job is already giving us more time as a family and giving me time to put more homemade meals on the table! This week we've already had creamy tomato fettuccine, steak Marsala with risotto and roasted parmasean asparagus, and slow cooker chicken tikka masala. I'm hoping that getting more time together will mean more things getting accomplished, like working out, knitting, going through all the stuff in our basement and getting rid of it, and even growing a small veggie garden when spring arrives. Love how the new year holds such promise!

Monday, December 30, 2013

New new new

Jonathan started his job, and the best thing: how much more time (and help) we have together as a family. Vincent now gets to sleep until 7 versus 5:15, I take him to school and log in for work at my usual time of 8:45, he gets picked up at 4 (which might get later should Jonathan decide to start working out after work), and dinner is on the table by 5:30 or 6 (Jonathan wasn't even getting home until 6:30 or later with his old job). The byproduct of all this: I can cook dinners while he plays with Vincent, Vincent is happier with more sleep, and more stuff can get done around the house in the evening. It's a win-win-win. We're still working on getting the routine down since the holdiays throw everything off. But I'll take these couple weeks of chaos for a all around happier family!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Just be

Lately I've been more content to the fact I don't have the perfect career culled out just for me. I have a job I know how to do OK. It pays bills, it let's me work from home, and it affords me a life that isn't so insane I don't get to savor the life I already have. I'm counting it as a blessing that I can quit work everyday not feeling stressed to pick up my son, that I can take a lunch hour to nourish my body and do something for my soul. It's not what I imagined and I do admit to fighting it almost monthly because I love pushing myself to the next level. But then I take a look around and ask myself, "What is missing from my life that I don't already have?"


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Here comes Santa Claus and good fortune

This year, I wanted to do a real tree. Actually, I wanted to add a real tree and put up our two fake trees. Insane, I know, but this girl loves sparkle for Christmas. If it don't glitter, it ain't Christmas in my book.


So Jonathan researched tree farms in the area. This was after I nixed his idea of a $50 Groupon for tree delivery. I wanted the real deal: ride a sleigh, pick it out, hack it down, drink hot chocolate, and tote her home. Not having done the tree farm thing before, I didn't realize that's stuff Christmas movies are made of. (Blame my mother in law. She has me watching the Hallmark channel this season.) We did go to a farm that has sleigh ride, cookies, and hot chocolate, so that does exist. But there was no snow like I fantasized. And Vincent didn't want to ride the tractor pulled sleigh ride. He was having a grumpy day. He did enjoy walking through the trees and helping pick one out. To have him tell it, he picked it out all by himself. 

Ironically we ended up with a Frazier fir that was brought in from Wisconsin. We could have picked one of the two varieties grown in Kansas, but we were pretty smitten with the Frazier. Next year I'm going for the Kansas native for the mere experience of hacking it down. It was a pricey adventure ($80) for a species of tree we could have gotten for $30 at a stand, but it was fun to check it out and they shook and tied up the tree for you. Vincent really enjoyed sorting through our ornaments and playing with them. 
In really good news and fortune: Jonathan got a new job! No more 2 hour commute coming our way this summer, more money, and learning new skills to make him more marketable for future jobs, say, in Colorado some day.